Chapter 7

LITSEA CUBEBA OIL

DESCRIPTION AND USES

Litsea cubeba oil is distilled from the small, pepperlike fruits
of the tree of Litsea cubeba.

Oil of Chinese origin, the only source of internationally traded material,
is rich in citral (about 70 percent) and has an intensely lemon-like, fresh,
sweet odour. It competes to a limited extent with lemongrass, another citral-rich
oil, in fragrance applications such as household sprays and fresheners
although it is less suitable for use in soaps than lemongrass oil since
it has less fixative power.

Its major use, however, both in the People's Republic of China and in
international markets, is as a raw material source for the isolation of
citral. This is used in its own right for flavour and fragrance purposes
or converted by the chemical industry to a number of important derivatives
such as ionones, which possess a violet-like fragrance, and vitamins.

WORLD SUPPLY AND DEMAND TRENDS

Markets

Although cheap synthetic citral (ex turpentine or petroleum hydrocarbons)
is readily available, and has displaced much of the citral ex lemongrass
previously used for derivative manufacture, there has remained a significant
market for natural citral which low-priced Litsea cubeba oil has
been able to meet. However, the oil is not separately specified in trade
statistics and this, coupled with the lack of reliable data for Chinese
production or exports, makes it difficult to quantify the demand and identify
all the consumers. Countries with the capacity to fractionate essential
oils and chemically convert isolates into products for the flavour and
fragrance industries are the major importers of Litsea cubeba oil,
i.e. the United States, countries of Western Europe and Japan. Total imports
are probably of the order of several hundred tonnes annually, although
trade in some years is estimated at up to 500 tonnes.

Supply sources

Chinese production of oil is impossible to quantify accurately. A report
of the International Trade Centre in 1986 suggested a figure of 500-600
tonnes annually, but a recent Chinese source placed it much higher at 1500
tonnes pa. Social and economic changes in the People's Republic of China
in recent years have led many people traditionally employed in the agricultural
sector to turn to more remunerative activities for their livelihoods. One
consequence of this has been a fluctuation in the level of harvesting Litsea
cubeba. If Chinese domestic consumption of Litsea cubeba oil
grows as expected, then quantities available for export are likely to decrease
and opportunities will occur for new producers.

Small quantities of Litsea cubeba oil are produced on Java, Indonesia,
but from the leaves rather than the fruits and it is not rich enough in
citral to be suitable for export.

Quality and prices

Citral content is the most important indicator of oil quality and an international
(ISO) standard specifies a minimum value of 74 percent. Both Chinese Litsea
cubeba oil and Indian lemongrass oil, with which it competes, are described
in trade terms as "75 percent", i.e. containing 75 percent citral.

The price of Litsea cubeba oil has been erratic as a result of
competing economic forces in the People's Republic of China. It has fallen
steadily in recent years and at the end of 1993 it was available in London
at around US$3.40/kg (compared with US$7.75/kg in early 1991). In early
1994 it had risen slightly to US$4.30/kg. By comparison, lemongrass oil
of Indian origin has remained at around US$9.75/kg for most of the last
two years. In early 1994 it was US$9.10/kg. The longer term price trend
is uncertain for Litsea cubeba but a firming is conceivable.

PLANT SOURCES

Botanical/common names
Family Lauraceae:

Litsea cubeba Pers.
(Litsea)

Description and distribution

Litsea cubeba is a small tree, 5-12 m high with a stem diameter
of 6-20 cm. It is native to China, Indonesia and some other parts of Southeast
Asia, where it occurs mainly in mountainous regions. In the People's Republic
of China it occurs naturally in the south of the country but it has been
successfully domesticated and large cultivated areas are found in central
and eastern China south of the Yangtze River. In Indonesia the species
grows wild in Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan from 700 m to 2300 m above sea
level.

Effects of oil production on the natural resource

Information on this aspect, if it exists, is not readily accessible outside
the People's Republic of China, but it is unlikely that harvesting the
fruits for oil production can have seriously affected the state or size
of the wild resource.

HARVESTING/PRIMARY PROCESSING

Details of the methods used for harvesting and the timing of it are not
available in the more accessible literature. Nor is it known at what age
the trees, in areas where they are cultivated, can furnish their first
crop.

Standard methods of steam distillation are used to distil the fruits.

Yields and quality variation

Yields of oil distilled from the fruit are reported to be 3-5 percent.
What this represents in terms of yield per tree is not known. Oil yield
and composition undoubtedly vary according to the provenance origin of
the trees but information on this is not well documented. "Krangean" and
"trawas" oils from L. cubeba growing in West and Central Java, Indonesia,
are different in composition, although they are both obtained from the
leaves rather than fruits and are richer in cineole than citral.

VALUE-ADDED PROCESSING

Fractionation of the oil and recovery of citral takes place in the country
of origin (for Chinese internal use) or the importing country. Chinese
exports are of whole oil.

PRODUCTS OTHER THAN OIL

Although it is not a major timber species, the trunk wood of L. cubeba
is sometimes used for making furniture and handicrafts. Parts of the tree
have also been used for medicinal purposes.

DEVELOPMENTAL POTENTIAL

The Chinese monopoly of the market for citral-rich
Litsea cubeba
oil presents both constraints and opportunities for the potential new producer.
End-users do not like to be dependent on a single source of supply of any
oil and so would welcome alternative sources, providing quality (citral
content) was assured and the price was attractive. Production of an oil
with a higher citral content than Chinese oil might enable it to be priced
at about the same or slightly higher than prevailing levels.

There may be particular potential in remote countries such as Bhutan
where L. cubeba occurs, labour is available and new high value/low
volume cash crops are imperative to social and economic development.

One obstacle to introducing the species into areas outside the People's
Republic of China where it does not occur is that of acquiring seed for
growing trials. Another is the lack of documented information relating
to its cultivation which could be used as a basis for such trials.

Research needs

The following areas need to be researched if citral production is to be
taken up by countries other than the People's Republic of China:

- Germplasm screening of L. cubeba. Sources of wild
Litsea growing in Indonesia and elsewhere need to be screened for
citral content and oil yield to try and identify suitable sources of planting
stock.

- Germplasm screening of plants other than L. cubeba. Continued
commercial interest in natural citral makes it worthwhile seeking alternative
sources to L. cubeba. Backhousia citriodora is one plant
which has aroused recent interest.